If I Were a Boy
by VisualEcho94
Summary: Life isn't easy and it loves sending you for a mind twist, but if you're lucky, it can lead you to what you never really thought you wanted. AU ONCE. Gender-swap Swan Queen and perhaps others. Not your style, just keep scrolling on.
1. Emmett Meet Your Son

**Hi. So this idea came to mind a while ago and I don't really know where it's going, but take a look if you want. Any mistakes are mine, so sorry in advanced for those.**

**Disclaimer : Only the idea is mine, everything else belongs to its respective owners.**

**Prolong – Emmett Swan meet your son.**

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There are a lot of things that Emmett Swan knows he can handle. He's a bounty hunter, a job not to be taken lightly, so he understands that he can't afford to freeze up at any moment. He's good at his job. Not just because he has an amazing ability for finding people, but also because he never once freezes on the job. No matter the situation he seems to find himself in, he always stays cool and collected. He doesn't freeze. If he really thinks about it, his whole life was spent with the thought that he had to hold himself together. He had to take care of himself and not let circumstances get the better of him. Always keep his emotions locked and never let his defenses down. Never freeze up enough to give someone else the advantage. _Except with_-No. He won't freeze.

_Can't freeze_ he thinks, even as his knuckles turn white from the pressure he's using to grip the door knob. Even as he stares blankly down at the boy standing on his doorstep. The boy looking at him with big brown eyes that look familiar, but don't. He's seen those eyes before. But he hasn't at the same time. _Where have I seen them?_

"Did you hear me?" the boy asks, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"_I'm your son." _It repeats over and over again in his head. Three words to stop his world and cause the walls to feel like they are caving in.

Emmett should be saying something. Doing something, _anything_, but he just can't seem to grasp the concept of it. He's frozen, staring down at the little boy. So small, can't be any older than seven or eight.

"Oh hey, juice." he says as he rushes past Emmett and into the apartment. The slight pressure of him squeezing by is what finally knocks the blond out of whatever daze he found himself in, giving him back control.

"Kid, what the hell? You don't just go into strangers homes like that." He says, following the boy into the kitchen.

"But you're not a stranger, you're my dad."

"Wait, no. I don't have a son." Emmett stresses, feeling a headache starting to form in the back of his skull. There is a darkness creeping in along the edges of his eyes, making his already light headed feeling more alarming. _I don't have a son._ He repeats mentally, not allowing the faint feeling he has to take over. Not with a boy that is calming to be his son there any way.

"Eight years ago, you put a baby up for adoption. Or well, your girlfriend did, and now here I am."

"Look Harry-"

"_Henry_."

"Right, sorry. Look Henry, I think you made a mistake, because I don't even have a girlfriend. And if I did, I'd hope she tell me if she was having my baby." Emmett said, running a hand through his hair as he walked up to Henry and leaned against the counter.

"Yeah that is weird. Why would anyone not tell someone they were going to be a dad?" Henry asked, looking at the blond with such innocent and genuine confusion. It caught him of guard, if Emmett was being honest, but also reminded him that there were other, more important, things to worry about besides his inner panic.

"I don't know kid. Maybe they just think it's better that way." He says, grabbing another glass to pour himself some juice as well. _Maybe the kid wouldn't notice if I spiked it._ Emmett thinks against that thought immediately, not wanting to deal with a child while under the influence. Besides, even he wasn't irresponsible enough to drink and drive, which he would be doing soon to return the boy home.

"Where you fro, kid?" Henry looks at him curiously and a little hesitant, but relents. "Storybrooke."

Emmett smirks, just barely holding back a chuckle at the name. "Really? Well okay, and where's that?"

"Maine." The blond spits up his juice, coughing loudly as he pounds on his chest. "_Maine!_" He wheezes, still trying to regain his posture. "Kid, what the hell?"

"What?"

"How'd you get here?"

"I took the bus." Henry says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"You spent six hours on a bus? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" Emmett asks, running another hand through his hair. _Oh God what is happening?_

"Hey is it your birthday?" Henry ignores the pacing blond, picking up the forgotten cupcake and swiping some of the frosting. The older man turns at the question, a hand covering his slacked jaw as his keeps himself from panicking to much.

"Um, yeah." It's a mumbled reply, barely audible, but Henry hears it and grins.

"What did you wish for? My birthday was two months ago and I wished for some more comics, also a telescope. It's so awesome." The little boy happily rambles on, continuing the one sided conversion as his blond father internally falls apart.

"Henry," Emmett starts, walking over to the boy "we need to get you home. Your parents must be worried sick."

"I don't have parents." He states. "Just a dad and he's evil."

Emmett almost snorts. Almost because he doesn't know how to deal with all this and he feels like all of this is just some bad, messed up dream.

"I'm sure that's not true." He says, remembering some of his own foster parents and rethinking the whole thing. "Why do you think he's evil? Does he hurt you?" Brown eyes turn to lock onto his blue ones in surprise.

"No! Why would you even think that?" Henry asks, taking Emmett by surprise, but the blond takes the mood switch in strides.

"You just told me he was evil."

"Yeah, but he would never hurt me!" Henry snaps, eyebrows drawn and lips turned down in a frown. Emmett has never seen a cuter glare in all his life.

"Then why do you say he's evil?" The bounty hunter is more than a little amused by the boy's defensiveness of someone he's calling evil.

"Because he cast a curse on everyone in Storybrooke." Henry says, staring at the blond like he should have guessed that was the answer all along. This time Emmett can't help but snort. Very loudly. The look he gets from the kid doesn't help at all and he just chuckles at the seriousness in his tone.

"Okay and why did he do that?" Emmett won't lie; he's curious where this is going to end up, already getting ready to explain against it.

"Because he's evil! He wanted revenge on Snow White, so he took away everyone's happily ever after/"

"But I thought the Evil Queen was the one who hated Snow White?"

"Not everything is a Disney movie Emmett. My dad is the Evil King."

"Right. What was I thinking, that just makes more sense."

"You don't believe me." Henry sniffles. Oh no, he doesn't know how to work with tears.

"I believe that this is all something you really and truly think is real." Emmett hurries to say, not wanting the kid to cry. Henry seems to consider that, thinking it over in his head as he looks down, before pushing himself off the counter and nodding his head. "Okay."

"Great. Now, if you're done with your juice, we need to get going." Emmett says as he grabs his keys and a jacket. "Going where?" Henry asks.

"To Storybrooke. We need to get you home."

"And break the curse." Henry adds.

"What?" The blond stops to turn and look at the boy.

"You need to break the curse my dad cast."

"What makes you so sure that it's me that has to break it?"

Henry just looks at him, a smile on his face that threatens to split it open. There's so much trust in his gaze. Trust not earned and it makes Emmett uneasy.

"Because you're the savoir."

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**Well there you have it. What do you guys think? Should I keep going?**

**Also if you'd like, I sort of pictured Paul Walker as Emmett, but you can use anyone you'd like and even share them with me if you want. Reviews are always welcomed. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Meeting the Mayor

**Hello, sorry I didn't update sooner, but life just is hectic for me right now and I just start school again. But here is chapter 2.**

**Everything belongs to who it belongs to. Enjoy.**

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Emmett won't lie, but the idea of having a kid is starting to grow on him. This is exactly why he feels the need to take the kid back to his real family, because he can't get use to the idea. It seems harsh, he know it does, but for whatever reason Henry's mother – he's pretty sure who she is, but that's not so important now – thought it best that he, Henry, have a good and supportive family. It sucks that she never told him about being pregnant, but then again, she did just disappear from his life. The truth is however that given the chance, Emmett doesn't think he would have changed the decision much. Yes he does know what it feels like to wonder why he's parents didn't want him; he knows how awful it is to be in the system, but he also knows that with his lifestyle, a kid isn't going to be much better off. He would have made sure that he'd have a home, maybe even checked on him every few years, but chances weren't high that he'd have kept him. Maybe that's what he's own folks thought, when they gave him up. Then again, he was ditched on the side of the road, so probably not.

Emmett snorts at the very thought that his parents gave any shit about him. He quickly looks at the small boy curled up in the back of he's car making sure he didn't wake him. Henry stirs, but doesn't awaken, pulling the jacket that Emmett leant him ever closer. It makes the blonde's stomach drop, that very act of protection and comfort that the action must give the kid.

"Fuck my life." He whispers under his breath, eyes reverting back to the long and empty road he's been on for the better part of half an hour. The moon is the only source of light for miles, not counting his headlights, and he feels like he heading nowhere. _Maybe the kid made the place up, it's not even on a map _he thinks, and as if to prove him wrong, a large green sign comes in to view with the words WELCOME TO STORYBROKE written in white. Emmett sighs, gripping the wheel tighter as a sense of foreboding enters his mind. He's that much closer to losing the little family he actually has in this world.

"No," Emmett says to himself. "No, I'm doing the right thing by taking him home. I'm ending his dad's worrying. I'm doing the _right_ thing." Yet the feeling only gets worse as the lights of the seaside town appear in the distance. It isn't until he's in the out skirts of the town, does he reach behind his seat to wake up Henry.

"Kid. Hey kid, wake up." Henry swats at his hand, but opens his eyes. Blinking away his sleepiness, the small boy yawns and pulls on the blue jacket.

"Are we here?" He asks, though he can clearly see that they are by the way that he looks out the window at the familiar building they are passing.

"Yup. So where do you live?" Emmett asks, taking in the town curiously.

"I'll only tell you if you if you promise to break the curse." Henry says. Emmett looks back at him sharply before breaking the car.

"Kid, this isn't a negotiation. I'm taking you home whether you like it or not."

"But you have to break the curse-"

"Henry," Emmett began, feeling like he was just punched in the gut with the look the boy was giving him. No, he was the adult, and he needed to be the responsible one for once in his life. Getting out of the car, he leaned against the door. Not soon after, he heard his companion do the same. He looked even smaller with Emmett's jacket dwarfing him, but he didn't seem to mind as he looked up at his blond father. Emmett grinned despite himself. Quietly, he said, "We have to get you home."

"And you have to break the curse." Henry countered. He was a stubborn kid, and it wasn't hard for Emmett to see that it was thanks to him that he was.

"Look, what if this, curse, isn't really what you think it is? What if it's just better this way?" He asked.

"It's not. It can't be." Henry stated, looking at Emmett almost desperately, begging him to believe that it was real.

"Why? Why is it so important that this is real for you?" The blond asked.

"Because the curse was supposed to be my dad's happy ending and he isn't happy." Emmett was taken aback by the honesty in the boy's voice. This whole time, he thought that Henry wanted to break this 'curse' for all the victims that it supposedly affected. He had told the blond that his dad was evil and Emmett just assumed it meant that in Henry's black and white view of the world, evil needed to be stopped. Except now, he's explaining that he wants this curse broken for his father, a plot twist Emmett didn't see coming. This boy, this eight year old kid, felt more strongly about this curse and his father's happily ever after, than most adults the blonde's met felt about anything. And this kid was his.

Couching down low to be level with the kid, Emmett smiles and asks, "Why do you think your dad isn't happy? He has you." Henry looks like he might start to cry, but he quickly looks away.

"My dad loves me," Henry starts, a quiver in his words, "but I'm not his happy ending."

Before Emmett can do or say anything, he hears a bark followed by a "Henry!" and stands just as red headed man with a Dalmatian reaches him.

"Hello, Dr. Hopper." Henry grins up at the man, wiping his eyes with a blue sleeve. Dr. Hopper smiles back nervously as he takes in Emmett.

"Hello. Henry, what are you doing here? Your father must be worried sick." He says, eyeing the too big blue jacket on the boy.

"I went to find my real dad." Henry says, pointing up at the blond, which makes Dr. Hopper's eyes widen.

"Oh, your, um, Henry's biological father?" He asks, having trouble keeping a hold of the leash. Emmett just shrugs, giving the doctor an awkward grin.

"He's here to break the curse." Henry states, making both adults sigh.

"Henry, we've talked about this." Dr. Hopper says, looking down at the boy.

"So you know about this curse too?" Emmett asks, speaking for the first time. Dr. Hopper looks at him hesitantly, almost like he isn't sure what he's allowed to say, before nodding.

"I'm Henry's therapist. He's been coming to see me the last two months to talk about, um, the curse."

"Therapist, huh" Emmett stares down at the boy, before smiling at the doctor. "Would you happen to know where I can take him home?"

"Oh, yes its right down Mifflin Street, the Mayor's house is the biggest one there."

"You're the Mayor's kid?" Emmett asks, staring down at Henry with wide eyes. There is honestly not much else that can happen now to top that revelation in Emmett's book. Henry just looks down, not meeting Emmett's gaze.

"Thank you, Dr. Hopper, but we'd better get going." The blond says, shaking hands with the red head.

"No problem. Have a goodnight, and Henry, I'll see you next week." The Doctor says before walking off with his dog.

"Okay kid, let's go." Emmett says, but Henry stays where he is.

"What now?" The blonde asks.

"I'm not going to go until you promise to break the curse."

"Look Henry, it's been a long and complicated night, I'm tired, and it's almost," Emmett turns to look at the clock tower, blinking fast and doing a double take to make sure he's reading it right. "8:15?"

"That clock hasn't moved in my whole life. It's part of the curse." Henry says, pulling the sleeves of his borrowed jacket back.

"So why don't the characters just leave?"

"Because they can't. If they try, bad things happen." Henry says, making it seem obvious.

"So let me get this straight." The bounty hunter begins "Your dad, the Evil King," he pauses for Henry's nod. "Cursed a bunch of fairy tale characters to a town frozen in time. A town that is keeping them from leaving and they have no knowledge of their lives before they came here. And he did all this, because he wanted to get revenge on Snow White."

"Yeah." Henry had another splitting grin on his face.

"Let's not forget that for some reason, I happen to be the 'savior' of said curse and you want me to break it. Am I missing anything?" Emmett continues, his sarcastic tone flying over the little boy's head as his smile stretches, if possible, even bigger.

"Exactly! And once you break the curse, you'll be reunited with your parents." Henry said, vibrating with excitement. Emmett's own small grin slipped away at that. He stood up straight and looked at the small brunette.

"What do you mean I'll be reunited with my parents?" He asked.

"That's why you're the savoir. Your mom and dad are Snow White and Prince Charming." Henry explains.

So Emmett was wrong. There was something that could top the last revelation.

* * *

After finally convincing the boy to get back the car, Emmett took the directions given to him to get to the mayor's house and pulled up to a large, white mansion. Taking in the big house, with its perfectly well kept garden and high widows, he also noticed what seemed to be a sheriff's car parked behind an expensive looking Benz. The blond had to admit; at least it looked like Henry was well off. A lot more so than he would have been with him. That thought gave him the courage to step out of the car and head for the front door, the small brunette following behind reluctantly.

Emmett felt his palms start sweat, as his heart picked up speed. How was he supposed to handle a situation like this? It's not like he could just walk up and ring the doorbell, saying "Hey, I have your kid. Who turns out to be mine, too? Wanna talk about it?" He couldn't just leave Henry there. He hadn't even known about him until tonight, and all the way down here, he couldn't stop thinking of reasons why he wanted to know him. How often was a boy, who seemed like such a generous and selfless human being for such a small person, going to come and knock on his door? How was he supposed to walk away from what could be such an important part of his life?

This was going to be hard enough without the sheriff there, but the night hadn't seem to be giving him a break so far, why start now? Taking deep breaths, he continued his stride down the pathway, thinking how he was going to start. He was saved, however, by the front door opening and a tall man coming out to run toward them.

"Henry!" he yelled, tears streaming down his blood shot eyes as he took the boy in his arms. "Oh my gods, Henry" was mumbled into the boys shoulder. The man pulled back, keeping his hands on the Henry's shoulders as he took in every inch of the boy, looking for damage. Once satisfied that he was okay, the man, who Emmett assumed was Henry's father, looked straight into his eyes and spoke to the small brunette like he was all that existed in the world.

"Henry, where have you been? I've been losing my mind thinking something happen to you." Henry's father said. Henry, for the first time that Emmett's seen, looked truly ashamed of his actions. His eyes had started to fill with tears and his upper lip trembled.

Sniffling he said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry, Daddy." The term of endearment used only made Emmett realize more than ever how young Henry truly was. He acted older, by the way he spoke and how he held himself, but really he was just a little kid.

Henry's dad sighed before pulling him closer to hug the boy. "We'll talk about it later, I'm just glad you're home." He said, before standing with Henry on his hips. It was then that Emmett could clearly see the man. He was Emmett height, though he did look taller with his body portions looking the way they did, with wide shoulders and a long torso covered in tanned skin. He had dark brown locks of hair that looked disorganized, but Emmett assumes it has a lot to do with the fact that he was running his hands through it worrying over Henry. A small amount of facial hair was around his upper lip and chin, but he was for the most part clean shaven. Despite the fact that red tinged them, Emmett noticed the darkest shade of mocha eyes. He was without a doubt the most beautiful man that Emmett had ever seen. His features contrasted with Emmett's own blond hair, light skin, and blue eyes.

"Hello, I'm Rene Mills. Thank you so much for bringing Henry home." Rene said, holding out a hand for Emmett to shake. Emmett seemed startled for a second, but shook hands with Rene as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Um, yeah well, when he should up at my place, I couldn't just let him-" he began before Rene interrupted him.

"Wait, what do you mean he showed up at your place." Rene's eyes seemed to shift from grateful to cautious, his grip on Henry tightening. Emmett gaped for the whole 3 seconds it took Henry to answer.

"I went looking for him, dad." He said.

"And why is that?" The older brunette asked his voice a tad softer towards the boy if you cared to notice. Emmett did.

"He's my real dad." Came Henry's answer. The color seemed to drain from Rene's face, his eyes widening as he looked sharply at the blond.

"You're-you're Henry's biological father?" Emmett smiled awkwardly, shrugging just as he did when Dr. Hopper had asked him the same. Someone cleared their throat and Emmett noticed for the first time the shaggy haired man behind Rene with a uniform on, most likely the sheriff.

"Why don't I take Henry off to bed? Must have been a long day, ya know." He said, an accent that Emmett couldn't quick place rolling off his words. The Mayor just nodded, still looking at Emmett with a blank face. Moments after the sheriff and Henry were out of sight, Rene seemed to finally snap out of his daze. He smiled at Emmett, cool and collected as he said, "How would you like a taste of the best apple cider you've ever had."

The tuff of hair sticking up in an odd angle didn't diminish the clear demand to enter the house that it was.

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**Well that's chapter two. I hope you guys enjoyed it, I'm not the best writer on this site, but I had this idea and need it on paper. And now on the internet.**

**I know you all have your opinions about male! Regina's name/appearance and let me tell you it was not an easy thing to choose to say the least. With Emmett, the image came right away, but I wanted Rene to be just as good. I still haven't completely settled on who would play him, but it's a tie between Tom Beck and Eric Balfour. To me Tom Beck looks like a male version of Lana Parilla, but I see Eric having more chemistry with Paul Walker. Either way, choose who you want or pick someone else entirely, it's all good. As for the name, Reginald and Reinaldo were my top choices. Both are derived from Regina and really, Reinaldo, if said in Spanish, starts off as Rey, meaning 'king'. I'll let you guys decided on which one it will be, because in the Enchanted Forest that will be his name. However, like many characters that had name changes coming to Storybrooke, Rene is going to be his name there, because the other two are just mouthfuls.**

**Anyway thanks for reading. Reviews are always encouraged and hopefully I can update again soon.**


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